


cake and confessions

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 03:45:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8312716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Keith works at a bakery. He's head over heels for one of his regular customers. Only problem?He doesn't know his name.





	

“You should talk to him, you know.” Shiro leaned over the counter, _jolting_ Keith from where he had been staring off into space. Well, not off into _space_ , specifically. His gaze was trained on the teen sitting in the corner of the bakery, staring at him from the corner of his eye so he didn’t seem like a creep.

Almost every day, he came into the shop. Ordered something – different every time! Most people had regulars, but not this guy! – and then nestled in the corner of the shop with his computer, frowning deeply at whatever was on the screen and doing massive amounts of typing. He was always polite and nice and friendly, genuinely asked Keith about his day and paid attention to the name on his nametag, always dropped his change in the donation jar when he paid with cash, and-

 _Keith had no idea what his name was_.

When the other had first shown up, Keith had been too caught off-guard by his smile, by the blinding _happiness_ and _warmth_ that had blown over him as soon as the door opened (Shiro swore there had been no such feelings cast over the whole bakery, that it was just because ‘You’ve got a crush, Keith’, but he _knew better_ ). He had missed when the teen introduced himself, offered his hand for a shake, and read Keith’s name tag.

Shiro, being the shitty, shitty boss and friend that he was, refused to tell him the other’s name. No matter how much he cajoled and pleaded, even saying that he’d work overtime or be a test subject for a new brand of mascara or whatever was needed, Shiro _refused_.

It was infuriating. Humiliating.

And that was what led him to just staring aimlessly at the teen from the corner of his eye as Shiro teased. “Not when I don’t know his _name_ ,” he hissed back at the other, who laughed.

“You could just ask that, too. I bet he’d love to tell you.”

Keith wanted to smack that smug grin off of Shiro’s face. “He’s got a girlfriend!” It was true – about once a week, he was in here with a cute girl who was somehow even taller than him, giggling over drinks and chatting in the corner until Keith reluctantly made Shiro kick them out.

Shiro shrugged his shoulders, still grinning, and shoved at Keith with his single hand. “Are you _sure_?” he asked, his voice ringing with a smug intonation that said so plainly _Oh, poor little brother, I know so much more than you_.

Keith **wanted to smack that smug grin off of Shiro’s face**. “Doesn’t he!?”

There was a cough from behind him – god, when had he turned his back to the rest of the room – and Keith whirled testily, ready to unleash his rage on whichever unsuspecting customer had bothered him before stopping short. Because, oh god, it was _him._

The suppressed smile on the other teen’s face meant he probably hadn’t realized he was the person in question, or hadn’t heard the conversation – whichever way, Keith was so fucking grateful – and it melted into a grin as Keith stopped short. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.”

Shiro laughed, slapping the still stunned Keith on the back. “Nah, you’re fine. I have to go back to the kitchen anyway. Keith, take his order?” And with a wink, he was gone, leaving Keith to slowly turn red and try to compose himself enough to do such.

Thankfully, the other teen was an angel sent from the heavens. “Sorry,” he apologized again. “I just wanted to get a lemonade for a friend.”

Surprised, Keith moved to the register, entering the order with the ease that comes from way too much practice. “That’s not your girlfriend’s usual,” he said, the words slipping out before he could censor himself.

He paled. The other coughed, clearly embarrassed. “Um. Shay’s… not my girlfriend. And it’s for someone else.”

“Oh. S-Sorry.”

The rest of the transaction was conducted in near-silence as he paid for the lemonade and quickly retreated to his table, leaving Keith to spin around and resist the urge to bang his head against the pitcher as he filled a glass of lemonade. “Why, why, why,” he muttered underneath his breath, chastising himself.

He definitely should not have said that. One, it made him sound like a creeper. Two, it had seriously embarrassed the other and he would probably never come again. Three, it _made him sound like a creeper._ Four, he bet the customer had now realized Keith’s awfully fucking embarrassing crush and that made him not coming again even WORSE. Five, **_it made him sound like a creeper._**

Keith let out a groan, pressing his hands to his temples to try to stave off yet another oncoming headache, before plastering on a more neutral expression and heading over to his crush’s table with the lemonade. “Uh, here,” he said, setting it down, avoiding the other’s gaze as he glanced up at him, and then fleeing back to hide behind the counter.

It took a few minutes before he was able to glance over at the teen, but by then, he was re-engrossed in his work on the computer.

Okay. Breathe. Maybe there was no lasting damage.

He was still too tense, though, and he near _jumped_ when the bell on the door rang, announcing the entrance of a rather lanky boy. His crush lit up, waving a hand eagerly in the air. “Lance!”

The new boy, Lance, grinned right on back, meandering on over and talking at his crush in a language Keith didn’t understand. Spanish, maybe? Or Italian? Fuck, he was not good at his languages… Didn’t matter. He couldn’t understand head nor tails of it either way, and so he simply watched them and didn’t bother trying to listen.

He watched as they hugged, as Lance plopped down next to the other, and as they chattered excitedly at each other. It looked… natural. Nice. Normal.

It was only after a few minutes of watching them beam at each other that Keith remembered you were Not Supposed To Stare At the Customers, and he turned away to busy himself with wiping down the counters. Then Shiro needed him in the back to help with a cake, then there was a group of old ladies who all wanted tea and scones, so he had to brew that, then he realized he was covered in flour and had to go _change_ because _food did not go on your clothing-_

And by the time he was done racing around, the little bakery was close to closing, and his crush was at the front desk. Alone. Keith swallowed sharply and approached. “Hey, uh, what… can I get for you?”

He never came up three times. Once when he got there, maybe twice if he was having the girl around – whose name was Shay, had to remember that – but never three times. The teen gave him an awkward smile. “Uh, hey, Keith. I saw your sign up on the window, actually, and wanted to know if I could get an application…?”

Keith was pretty certain his heart stopped in his chest. His crush. Was going to apply to work. _Here?_ The thought was exhilarating and terrifying all at once, so all he managed to do was nod mutely, ducking underneath the counter to retrieve one of the applications and pass it over. To his surprise, the other pulled out a pen and hunkered down to start filling out the information right then and there.

He waffled for a moment, before deciding to speak up. “Um. You know you don’t have to feel it out right now, right?” Keith glanced at the door, but he couldn’t see past it. “Is your friend waiting?”

His crush snorted, shaking his head but not looking up from where he was writing. “Nah. Lance had to go meet with Rolo.” His eyes flickered up at Keith. “His boyfriend.”

Keith’s heart thudded in his chest, and the boy took a quick moment to muse at that. Going from stopping to going to thumping so loud he was pretty sure it was echoing in his head? Hopefully he didn’t have heart problems… “Oh. Okay, then.”

Some slight weight to his crush’s shoulders seemed to dissipate as he relaxed and returned to filling it out. “Yeah. What about you? Am I keeping you from anyone?”

He shook his head. “No. I’m…” It sounded embarrassing to say, but he flushed. “I’m single.”

“Cool, cool. Same.”

Silence stretched between them as the other flipped it to the opposite side of the paper, and Keith busied himself with wiping down the counter, cleaning up all the stray bits of crumbs. It was only a few more minutes before his crush cleared his throat, and Keith looked up to see the other pushing the application his way, fidgeting nervously with his headband. “I, uh, wanted to ask you one more thing.”

Keith waited, but it seemed he wanted some sort of response. “Um, okay?”

He swallowed. “Are you… free next Friday night? After closing?”

“Yeah, I’m free.”

His crush nodded. “Do you… want to go to the movies with me? The new Harry Potter movie just came out, so…”

It took a few moments for that to register. His… his crush was asking him out. On a date. On what seemed like a date. “On a _date_?” Keith squeaked, words going straight from his mind to his mouth.

The headband fidgeting increased, and his crush looked away. “If you want it to be?”

Keith nodded so fast he dislodged his loose ponytail. “Yes. Yes, I want to. Make it a date. That is.” He coughed, trying to formulate his words. “Um, yeah, I could do a date on Friday after work. We could meet here?”

Slowly, as if not sure whether to believe this was real, a smile broke across his crush’s face. It was the most beautiful thing that Keith had ever seen. “Yeah. That sounds good.”

Shyly, Keith returned the smile. “Okay. See you then?”

“Right.” His crush seemed to recover, glancing up at the clock. “It’s, uh, time for you to close so I’ll just. Be headed out, then. I’ll see you later?” He was already backing towards the door as he spoke, and Keith nodded.

“Yeah. See you.”

And then the bell rang, and he was gone. Keith stared after him for a few moments more, smile still in place, before he realized something. Something very, very important.

_He had forgotten to ask his name._

“ ** _Shit_** ,” he swore under his breath, glad that the café was empty and that Shiro was in the back – otherwise, he would’ve been scolded. All that, and he hadn’t even asked his name? Though it probably would’ve been awkward to ask, it was still better than pretending like he knew. What, was he gonna have to wait until he was hired and then look at his name tag? Have a coworker whose name he-

Coworker. Hiring.

_The application._

Relieved, Keith peered down at the piece of paper in his hands, squinting at the quick, pretty cursive. Tsuyoshi. “Tsuyoshi Garrett,” he said aloud, pronouncing it slowly. Tsuyoshi. He liked it.

It was nice to finally have a name to fit a face, to fit a fucking _crush_ , and Keith carefully tucked the application away underneath the counter for safe-keeping.  He didn’t want to lose it, after all.

He had a date. He had a date with his crush. He had a date with his crush who _could become his coworker._ He had a date with his crush who could become his coworker whose name was Tsuyoshi.

Keith couldn’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally started for Voltron Rare Pair Week, but I finished it so late it works better for Heith Week's free day.


End file.
